


paint a picture of you and me

by ellekim94



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Domestic, Gen, God Bless Akaashi, Light Angst, Toddler!Bokuto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23614252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellekim94/pseuds/ellekim94
Summary: Perhaps the scream of his two seniors scared the hell out of Akaashi but not more than the little thing rolling in the floor with six to seven volleyballs who has a striking semblance to their team captain. The little thing — a toddler, it seemed, has light and dark grey streaks, owlish, golden eyes, and the love of the game considering that he’d reach for a ball, try to ride it, fall flat on his face, and has the heart to be happy about it.“It’s definitely Bokuto-san.” Akaashi looked at Komi and Konoha who were hiding behind him. “What happened?”Or where, Bokuto transformed into a toddler and Akaashi looked after him.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 4
Kudos: 167





	paint a picture of you and me

**Author's Note:**

> I was looking for fics with toddler!Bokuto or baby!Bokuto because he'd make an adorable baby/toddler, right? But obviously, I couldn't find anything and there's that saying that's been messing me up all these years that goes, 'write the story you want to read.' So I began writing this yesterday and finished it today. I didn't even proofread it so I'd appreciate if you'd let me know if there are mistakes, typos, etc. I was determined to finish this. It was like an adrenaline rush and I really didn't think it would be this long but yeah, I really enjoyed writing this. Hope you'll enjoy reading it, too.
> 
> Title was from Anne-Marie's '2002.'

Komi and Konoha looked like they’ve lost half of their lives as they stared down at the naked _little thing_ rolling at the gym floor with volleyballs surrounding _it_.

“I didn’t see Bokuto-san in the locker room,” Akaashi was mentioning as he stepped inside the gym. “Have you —”  


Perhaps the scream of his two seniors scared the hell out of Akaashi but not more than the little thing rolling in the floor with six to seven volleyballs who has a striking semblance to their team captain. The little thing — a _toddler_ , it seemed, has light and dark grey streaks, owlish, golden eyes, and the love of the game considering that he’d reach for a ball, try to ride it, fall flat on his face, and has the heart to be happy about it.

“It’s _definitely_ Bokuto-san.” Akaashi looked at Komi and Konoha who were hiding behind him. “What happened?”

Komi tried telling Akaashi exactly what happened all the while maintaining a safe distance between the toddler — well, Bokuto — behind the second-year setter, looking as if anytime Bokuto would crept on him and approach him while Konoha was just looking more scared as Komi told what happened slowly.

Apparently, what Akaashi understood from the burble of Komi’s story, he and Konoha arrived at the gym with Bokuto when they found an odd-looking bottle sitting by the gym door that says _‘Drink Me’_ in an equally odd-looking handwriting. They dared Bokuto to drink it and _of course_ , Bokuto drank whatever was inside the bottle and then, in between dramatic smoke effect and Bokuto’s gargling shouts, the _thing_ appeared and their ace disappeared in thin air.

The vice captain tried his best not to roll his eyes at his seniors because first of all, why would you drink an unknown substance out of nowhere that has the words _‘Drink Me’_ on it? Secondly, Komi and Konoha’s misplaced fear because of a toddler Bokuto was because of their own fault, taunting their obviously simple-minded captain into drinking something none of them knew what is.

“We’re sorry, Akaashi!” Konoha wailed, clutching to his junior’s shirt.

The loud wail caught the toddler’s attention as he turned at the three adults’ direction, his eyes sparkling as if he just saw some awesome animals he hasn’t seen before. Komi and Konoha froze in terror as their eyes met with Bokuto’s and if this has been a dream, Akaashi might have found it funny the way Komi and Konoha jumped out of their skin when Bokuto began charging towards them.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a dream and to save himself from the trouble of explaining two fainted seniors aside from a toddler team captain, Akaashi gently picked up Bokuto from the floor before he could reach the other two seniors who were pressed on the wall as Bokuto’s tiny arms reach for them from Akaashi’s shoulder.

“Bokuto-san, do you know who I am?” Akaashi asked, trying to get the toddler’s attention.

Bokuto slightly turned to look at him for several seconds before squinting his eyes as if he was focusing until his lips began to thin as well and that was enough for Akaashi to figure out that toddler Bokuto was probably also not accustomed to too much thinking just as third-year high school Bokuto.

“My name is Akaashi,” he finally said before the toddler dried out from too much thinking, putting down Bokuto again and sitting down on his knees to maintain eye-level with the toddler.

“I’m Bokuto!” Bokuto grinned at him.

Akaashi slowly nodded, confirming his earlier theory that Bokuto’s memory regressed just as his body. Whatever he drank wasn’t just something that changed his physical body but also his mind including his memories. There were certainly a lot of questions he wanted to ask but no matter how old their team captain was at the moment and no matter how frightened his other two seniors were, it still definitely didn’t feel right to leave Bokuto naked like that.

He walked towards his gym bag to grab a spare shirt before setting Bokuto again in between his legs. He gently placed the shirt on top of Bokuto’s head, helping his hand to the sleeves even though it was obviously too big for the toddler. 

The toddler excitedly wiggled, trying to get his head out of the fabric covering it, as if he was playing instead of Akaashi trying to simply get him dressed.

“Bokuto-san, stop wiggling. I need to get you dressed,” Akaashi patiently said.

Finally, Akaashi was able to get him inside his spare shirt that honestly looked more of an oversized dress to Bokuto’s current size than an actual shirt. It still looked ten times better than seeing their team captain shrunk and naked with absolutely no idea how it happened or how they’re going to get him back though.

“How old are you?”

Bokuto tried drawing fingers with his right hand, probably something he was taught instead of actually remembering the number, with his tiny fingers. His fingers looked like two and a half, honestly, but Akaashi decided to take a guess instead.

“Two? You’re two?” the setter asked.

The toddler bobbed his head up and down excitedly, clapping both of his hands together. The setter couldn’t figure out if he was doing that because he was proud that he successfully told them his age through his fingers or because it was guessed correctly by Akaashi.

“Do you like volleyball?” Akaashi asked again. He has no idea why he asked that instead of probably two hundred more questions to confirm that this was the real Bokuto but aside from just confirming that this person was Bokuto, he wanted to know if he was truly his team captain.

He probably shouldn’t worry too much on that because Bokuto’s grin even became wider, something Akaashi didn’t know was possible when you were a third-year high school student that turned back into your two-year old self, as he nodded enthusiastically and began pulling Akaashi to stand up and towards the volleyballs.

“Want to play?”

Perhaps if this wasn’t such an obviously strange predicament, Akaashi might have thought it was absolutely adorable how Bokuto answered, “Yes!” as he lead Akaashi towards the volleyballs, tripping in the process because he was excited but giggling instead of crying because that’s just how Bokuto was even as a child.

“Why is he so good with him?” Konoha asked, his soul finally returning to his body after the shock of Bokuto charging at them earlier when he still couldn’t wrap his head on the idea that _they_ turned their team captain into a baby, while he watched Akaashi playing throw with Bokuto who seemed content just seeing the volleyball fly towards him without actually successfully catching them. He’d just laugh each time the ball drops in front of him or fly above him, his tiny arms reaching the probably still too big ball for him to catch or to throw properly at Akaashi again.

Komi, who was also watching the two play, looked at him in surprise and slightly raised brow, saying, “What do you mean? Akaashi’s always been good with Bokuto.”

After making sure that their souls have properly returned to their bodies and calming themselves for a bit while watching Akaashi play volleyball with Bokuto who was now just two-foot tall, Komi and Konoha approached the two again, still maintaining a safe distance though.

“What are we going to do about the others, Akaashi?” Konoha asked, gently kicking a volleyball towards Bokuto’s direction because the toddler visibly made a displeased expression when he suddenly appeared and spoke, taking Akaashi’s attention from throwing a ball to him. He watched Bokuto effectively ignore the ball he kicked in favor of running around Akaashi, asking him to throw to him again.

It’s not just during this time that Akaashi was made to think about some things that his seniors started. However, this wasn’t also something he could just let them deal on with their own. First, this wasn’t just _any_ thing, this was Bokuto — their team captain, their ace, maybe even their friend if he would just stop drinking unknown substances out of nowhere. Second, he was pretty sure despite the idiotic teasing that caused this, Komi and Konoha didn’t want this to happen and were probably the most scared right now because there was that possibility, right?

That Bokuto might not return to normal. Akaashi’s hold to the ball tightened but he forced himself not to think of such negativity. At least, not yet. They didn’t know what happened, that’s true, but that didn’t mean there was no way for Bokuto to return to normal.

That said, he didn’t want to worry others especially since the Spring Interhigh Qualifiers was just around the corner. He briefly glanced at Bokuto, who was still running around him in such an impressive pace for a toddler who was supposed to have no balance yet and weak bones, and thought their team captain probably wouldn’t want the team to be thrown off balance because of him as well. He could only hope that by the time the qualifiers begin, Bokuto would be back to normal.

“Let’s observe him first,” Akaashi finally said, walking to hand Komi the ball he was holding and picking up Bokuto in his arms after. “Maybe whatever he drank was just temporary.”

Komi nodded, respecting their second-year captain in a brand new level because of the calmness he was showing. Truth be told, he was freaking out inside for all the reasons that brings down to the same fear Akaashi was probably thinking but was successfully keeping at bay in favor of trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation. Perhaps it has always been Akaashi’s greatest ability, to keep calm despite the adversaries, and that’s probably why he was the one who could handle Bokuto the best, too.

“Okay, we’ll take care of the others,” the libero told him, walking behind Akaashi as the younger stepped out of the gym with Bokuto.

“Akaashiiiii, where are we going?” Bokuto’s voice was whining but he wasn’t struggling in Akaashi’s arms. He was simply settled against Akaashi’s chest with an arm on his neck, looking at him with such wide, interested eyes it was almost impossible for him _not_ to be Bokuto.

“We’re going home, Bokuto-san,” Akashii answered, moving his arms up a little to adjust Bokuto’s position because the toddler was a lot heavier than he looked and if he carried him to his chest a couple of minutes ago, Bokuto was now nearly by his waist.

“Home?” the toddler blinked.

The setter nodded, “Yes, home.”

He didn’t know if Bokuto understood where home was, or if he has a different idea with home, but he just went and jumped in a sitting position in Akaashi’s arm, exuberantly shouting, “I’m going home with Akaashiiiii~ We’re going home, Akaashiiiii~”

Akaashi was a bit startled but fortunately was also quick to recover as he immediately moved his arms to accommodate more of Bokuto’s movements to keep the toddler from falling. “Bokuto-san, please calm down,” he tried telling the toddler, adjusting Bokuto’s position once again to a safer one that will keep him from moving excessively.

“Akaashi, will you be okay?” Konoha asked, grimacing at the scene because he couldn’t think of himself being in Akaashi’s current situation.

They find it absolutely amazing that the setter’s eyes didn’t change. It didn’t even falter when he looked at the two third-year players and answered. “Yes. It’s just Bokuto-san.”

He knew he probably meant that as _‘It’s still Bokuto-san.’_

—

Akaashi knew he should drop the ‘-san’ because him carrying a toddler home instead of practicing that afternoon was turning enough heads at school towards his direction. The only good thing was most of the students have already gone home at that time. He didn’t need a grade school girl tugging her mother’s shirt with a confused expression, asking, “Mom, why is he calling that baby _Mister?”_

The girl’s mother glanced at him with an apologetic expression for a moment before she whispered quietly at her daughter, “Come on, Yuki, we shouldn’t be meddling with other people’s business.”

“But Mom, it’s strange,” the little girl started again.

“Yuki,” her mother almost glared at her, if not for the look of a bit of confusion on herself as well, and pulled her daughter away with her.

Akaashi couldn’t blame them. He hasn’t referred with such respect to any toddler in his life before but this wasn’t just any toddler. He looked as Bokuto jumped up and down, hopping giddily as he walked the aisles of the store, grabbing more snack than Akaashi bought from there his entire life. They passed by the store and Akaashi reluctantly went in because he figured if he was bringing toddler Bokuto home, he knew he’d need more than the usual futon and shower if he was staying with him that night.

However, he couldn’t just bring himself to drop the ‘-san.’ He also thought it’s definitely strange to call a toddler in such manner, or to hear someone doing that, but there’s something inside him that just wanted to call Bokuto the same way despite his size right now. Somehow, even if the person with him was just two-foot tall, it still felt more like Bokuto when he calls him the same way. It still felt more like _Bokuto_ that he was with.

“Bokuto-san, that’s enough,” Akaashi called to him when he had filled two baskets worth of snacks.

“But Akaashiiiii,” Bokuto whined, running away to grab more snacks.

Akaashi sighed, quickly following Bokuto while saying, “If you don’t stop, I’ll leave you here.”

That made Bokuto froze on his feet and turned around, looking at Akaashi’s calm but serious expression. There were tears forming on the toddler’s eyes at the thought of being left behind that squeezed Akaashi’s heart. He regretted scaring the two-year old like that that he scooped him up and hugged him.

“Akaashiiiii, I-I’m s-sorry~” Bokuto’s voice quivered. “P-Please don’t leave me~”

The setter subconsciously tightened his hug on the little one as if his life was on the line in protecting Bokuto. He hushed softly and gently said to him, “It’s okay. I won’t leave you. You don’t need to cry.”

“R-Really?” Bokuto looked at him with those eyes that Akaashi hoped he would only see sparkling, shining with such wonder and amazement in spiking near impossible points, pride with their team and teammates, and innocent love for volleyball among other things that matter to him.

Akaashi nodded, brining his hand to ruffle the toddler’s hair. “Yes, but we need to go home before it gets dark, okay?”

“Okay!” Bokuto said, the smiling returning to his little face. He reached his tiny arms up and moves his tiny feet against Akaashi’s body until he has his face buried on Akaashi’s shoulder and his arms around Akaashi’s neck. “Let’s go home, Akaashi!”

Luckily, both of Akaashi’s parents were on a business trip until the following week and it was one less thing for the second-year to think about. However, when they arrived home and he thought of that, he wondered what he would tell Bokuto’s parents. He glanced at the toddler who was already settled on the living room floor with some chocolate biscuits they bought from the store while he placed two more bags on their kitchen counter.

He walked towards the two-year old and kneeled down in front of him. “Bokuto-san, you know who I am, right?”

Bokuto nodded excitedly and answered, “Yes, you’re Akaashi!”

Akaashi’s lips tugged up a bit before he asked next. “Do you know who your Dad and Mom are?”

He looked a little confused at first but he still nodded even if he still seemed uncertain.

“Do you know where they are?”

He shook his head.

“Don’t you miss them?”

That made the confusion even more evident in Bokuto’s face, as if he was concentrating extremely, trying to figure out the answer to Akaashi’s question, until he slowly shook his head and pointed at him. Akaashi blinked at the tiny finger pointing to his face, looking just as confused as Bokuto’s face earlier when the toddler spoke. 

“I’m with Akaashi,” he simply said.

Akaashi might have dropped his mouth at that and he had no idea how long he just stared at this little thing in front of him until he tasted something sweet in his mouth. Bokuto was shoving a piece of chocolate inside his mouth. He figured he could leave it like that for tonight.

“It’s delicious, Akaashi,” Bokuto said, smiling at him.

“But you don’t know who I am,” Akaashi mentioned after swallowing the excessively sweet thing down his throat because Bokuto looked at him expectedly when he gave it to him.

Again, Bokuto just looked at him in confusion but only for a moment now before he laughed loudly. (Akaashi couldn’t believe a two-year toddler Bokuto was laughing at him even in this moment.) He pointed at him again and said, as if informing Akaashi, “You’re Akaashi!”

He wondered if all toddlers were just as trustworthy to strangers as Bokuto as a toddler and for a brief moment, he wondered if Bokuto would have come to someone else’s home like this if he didn’t come home with Akaashi. He stared at their shrunken team captain and hoped he wouldn’t. For safety reasons, Akaashi told himself.

“Bokuto-san, what do you want for dinner?”

“Beef!” Bokuto’s grin was reaching his ears when he stood up and followed Akaashi in the kitchen with the thought of beef. Jumping up and down, he kept repeating it, “Beef! Beef! I wanna eat beef, Akaashi~ Beef!”

Akaashi glanced at his watch. It read just a little after six. Then, he looked down at the jumping toddler beside him, looking at him with those excited eyes while continuing his chants for beef as if he wasn’t heard the first time he shouted what he wanted for dinner. It was going to be a long night.

Before starting dinner, the setter borrowed Bokuto’s phone from his bag that Akaashi took home with them and sent a message to Bokuto’s mother.

_To: Mom_

_I’m staying over at Akaashi’s tonight, Mom. We have early practice tomorrow for Interhigh. Love you._

He stared at the message for about ten minutes and read it more times than necessary, trying to figure out if it was enough. In the end, Akaashi knew he was only worried he should have omitted the word _‘tonight’_ because honestly, not knowing how long Bokuto would stay like this was even more nerve-wrecking than actually taking care of Bokuto in this state. Crossing his fingers, he hoped his message was accurate until tomorrow when he finally sent it.

Akaashi settled Bokuto on the floor by the kitchen with a volleyball from his room to play with because the two-year old didn’t want to play by himself in the living room. After he finished preparing dinner, he set the table for the two of them, picked up Bokuto from the floor, the volleyball rolling away from the toddler while Bokuto tried reaching in vain, and sat him in a chair. Being the good person that he was (and probably also because he couldn’t ignore the pout in Bokuto’s face as he stared longingly at the abandoned ball by the oven even with the presence of beef in front of him), Akaashi got the ball and placed it underneath Bokuto’s chair. He told him he could play again after dinner.

“Thank you for the food.”

After saying that, Bokuto was already reaching for every piece of beef he could reach. The setter watched him grunt adorably whenever he would reach for food and it would fall even before it reached his bowl. He wondered if the chair was still too low for him or if he was just too small at the moment.

“Bokuto-san, do you want to eat here with me?”

The way Bokuto’s eyes shone was just impossible especially when Akaashi stood up and scooped him from his chair, went back to his own chair and placed him on his lap comfortably, and got him meat right in front of him.

“Akaashi, this is delicious~” he kept saying over and over again, stuffing beef after beef inside his mouth.

If Akaashi wasn’t able to eat properly that evening, it wasn’t solely because Bokuto was literally breathing the meat from the plates inside his mouth but it could have something to do with absolutely how endearing it was to see his team captain at such age, with that kind of innocence and charm, that Akaashi couldn’t be bothered how the meat was gone in such a short time after he got Bokuto to sit on his lap with no hurdle in his eating capability.

They just finished dinner — actually, Bokuto was still on it with the leftover pieces of meat while Akaashi had given up halfway through — when the doorbell rang. He figured Bokuto would be just fine now as he placed him alone on the chair and he went to answer the door.

Komi and Konoha looked like they’ve aged twice since he last saw them two hours ago.

“Akaashi, what happened? Is he back? Are you two okay?” Konoha looked like he had several balls taken by his face from the practice earlier, probably for not focusing enough on the game and thinking of accidentally transforming their team’s ace into a two-year old toddler.

The setter slightly moved to let them inside and closed the door before answering. “He isn’t back yet,” he told them, leading them towards their dining room and showing them Bokuto who was yet to finish his dinner, “but we’re okay, I guess.”

The toddler only briefly glanced at them before he returned to his business.

Komi visibly breathed out a sigh of relief. Then, he handed a colorful paper bag to Akaashi. “It’s clothes,” he told the younger, “for toddlers. We bought some before coming here.”

Akaashi looked inside the bag and saw several pieces of clothing for toddlers. Some with dinosaurs, some with trucks, some with owls. All of them were a mixture of bright colors. He glanced up at Bokuto and sure enough, he was still wearing his spare shirt from earlier with nothing else underneath. “Thank you, Komi-san,” he said gratefully because the clothing completely slipped his mind earlier and there was nothing he could lend a toddler except his own shirts at home.

“Don’t thank us,” Komi said, scratching the back of his head guiltily. He gently put an arm on Akaashi’s shoulder and whispered to him, “Will he be alright?”

That was something even Akaashi didn’t know. They didn’t even know yet what Bokuto drank that presumably was the reason why he turned into a two-year old toddler. But he was forcefully drag from the pitfall of pessimistic thinking when he felt a hand on his pants tugging him away from their libero.

Toddler Bokuto didn’t have to say anything when his face showed too much annoyance and irritation at Komi and it just silently screamed that he should get away from Akaashi despite the sauce and several pieces of different kinds of food decorating his face at the moment.

Komi immediately removed his arm from Akaashi’s shoulder and took a couple of steps away from their setter, hands up in the air because despite the two-foot body in front of him, it was still their team captain and it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

“Is he jealous or something?” Konoha asked, his face twisting in a mixture of bewilderment and nice surprise because if Bokuto was jealous someone else has Akaashi’s attention, that pretty much inside the two-foot body of the toddler was their same six-foot team captain.

Akaashi ignored Konoha’s question and kneeled down to Bokuto’s level, bringing a napkin to his face to clean him up. “Are you finished with you dinner, Bokuto-san?” he gently asked while he wiped the stray meat, sauce, and everything else in the toddler’s face. “Don’t you recognize Komi-san and Konaha-san from earlier? They’re our friends.”

Bokuto glanced behind Akaashi for a moment, still maintaining his displeased expression, to the two third-years. He glared at them and looked back at Akaashi, shaking his head vehemently.

“We’ll take him since it’s our fault he’s like that but I’m not sure he’ll come with us,” Komi said to Akaashi when he was walking them to the door after their visit was cut shorter than they planned.

It was definitely futile to look for someone to blame at this point as Akaashi felt a little person closely following him to the door but Komi wasn’t exactly wrong that it was their fault partly. Of course, the toddler that has his tiny hand on Akaashi’s pants was also partly to blame.

“Bokuto, do you want to come with us?” Konoha still asked, glancing back at the two-year old behind their setter.

They watched as Bokuto’s face turned from shock, to anger, to sadness, and to a mixture of the three and probably ten more as tears began forming in his eyes, his lips began to tremble, and his body started shaking. Immediately, Akaashi got him in his arms, alleviating any possible crisis that might happen, and told him seriously, “Don’t cry, Bokuto-san. They’re only joking. They’re not going to take you with them.”

The huge frown in Bokuto’s face was enough for Komi to hit Konoha’s head. “Why’d you tell him that, you idiot?”

“I just tried, okay?” Konoha answered but he knew he deserved that hit.

“If adult Bokuto couldn’t be teared away from Akaashi, do you seriously think toddler Bokuto can?”

That was quite true but Akaashi chose to ignore that once again in favor of wiping the tears from Bokuto’s eyes with the back of his hand. The toddler quickly settled himself on the setter’s chest once again as Komi and Konoho stepped outside.

“Ah, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi suddenly remembered the clothes. “They brought clothes for you. You should thank them.”

The glare Bokuto gave Komi and Konoha, which was probably from the earlier attempt of what seemed kidnapping to a toddler, made Konoha nervously said, “Don’t worry about that, Akaashi. It’s okay.”

“Bokuto-san,” the setter began again, giving Bokuto a look of his own.

“Okay,” Bokuto huffed. Then, he turned to the two and said as if he was forcing the words out of his mouth, “Thank you.”

Komi and Konoha stared at the two-year old at Akaashi’s arms before glancing at each other, not helping the smile that was in their faces. They couldn’t believe that their team captain could be that adorable.

“You’re welcome, Bokuto,” Komi said, smiling at him, feeling just a bit better about everything that happened.

“Call us if you need anything, Akaashi,” Konoha didn’t forget to say before they finally left.

Akaashi and Bokuto returned inside the house where once again, Akaashi was reminded that there was a reason why having a girlfriend was never on his to-do list. At least, not until after he graduated college and has a well-paying job. A girlfriend increases the probability of having an unplanned pregnancy. The probability of having an unplanned pregnancy increases the possibility of a child when he’s not yet ready.

The kitchen was alright. He knew how to cook well enough not to mess on anything while he was cooking. The dining was another story, with food almost everywhere besides the plates where they were supposed to be, and the living room with toys Bokuto was playing with before Akaashi settled him down with a volleyball.

“Bokuto-san, play with the volleyball while I clean up, okay?” Akaashi told the toddler, settling him down where he could still see him while he tidies up.

It was already around nine in the evening when he finished cleaning up and at the same time, he saw Bokuto yawning when he glanced at him even though he was still very much following the volleyball around the house. Akaashi looked through the clothes Komi and Konoha got for Bokuto and got the first thing he found which incidentally were the yellow and blue owl-patterned pajamas before walking towards Bokuto again.

“Bokuto-san, let’s take a bath,” Akaashi told him.

“Wow, bird!” Bokuto exclaimed happily, noticing the owl-pattered pajamas Akaashi was holding.

“Right, bird,” Akaashi said, smiling a little. “This is an owl, Bokuto-san. Do you know an owl?”

“Owl?” the toddler repeated after him.

“Yes, an owl,” the setter nodded.

“Owl! Owl! I like the owl!” Bokuto declared, trying to get the pajamas from Akaashi.

“Okay, you’ll wear them but first, you have to take a bath,” Akaashi told him again.

“Okay!” Bokuto finally dropped the volleyball and raised both his hands to Akaashi, as if telling him to pick him up and carry him.

Akaashi did exactly that, picking him up, carrying him upstairs to the bathroom, helping him takea bath, making sure he didn’t have shampoo or soap in his eyes, and changing him into the yellow and blue owl-patterned pajamas.

Bokuto looked absolutely mesmerized with the pajamas that he just sort of sat on top of Akaashi’s bed and stared at the print, admiring them.

“Bokuto-san, it’s time to sleep,” Akaashi declared, settling Bokuto on his bed. Maybe because the events of the day wasn’t exactly ideal and probably more tiring than the usual activities of a two-year old, it didn’t take twice for Bokuto to be told to sleep. Akaashi pulled the blanket to his chest and said, “Good night, Bokuto-san.”

He was just leaving his room to take a long steam shower of his own when he heard a tired, but still loud, “Akaashiiiii~”

Akaashi couldn’t help the equally tired sigh that escaped his lips before he completely turned around to see Bokuto has sat up again, wiping his sleepy eyes, and looking back at him. The setter walked towards him again, settled him on the bed again, and this time, he stayed for a minute, just looking at the two-year old who was staring at his ceiling.

“Do you want a bed time story?”

When Bokuto turned to him and nodded enthusiastically the setter almost thought reading to him might wake him up more than make him sleep. Akaashi didn’t have children’s books anymore. He probably wouldn’t find anything similar even if he turned their house upside down. Instead, he pulled out his phone and looked for something online. He thought the story itself might lull the toddler to sleep.

Akaashi was right. About ten minutes into reading about a mouse that gets turned into several other animals in order to escape the jungle’s natural selection, he glanced at Bokuto and he was already asleep, long eyelashes touching his cheeks. He stared at him for a moment, wondering if tomorrow, Bokuto would be back to normal already.

He moved his hand and gently touched the toddler’s cheeks, thinking it should be illegal to be that cute. Bokuto stirred a little but went back to sleep again, opening and closing his tiny mouth, breathing evenly in peace.

Akaashi sighed again. This Bokuto in front of him right now was definitely the definition of cuteness but if he could get his senior back, his teammate, his emotional and unpredictable team captain and ace, if he could play and practice volleyball with him again, walk home side-by-side with him, he’d like that very much.

He imagined Bokuto waking up the following morning, making a ruckus by himself because he would realize he slept at Akaashi’s place and even slept at Akaashi’s bed while the second-year setter was sleeping at the futon on the floor. He’d probably wake up Akaashi because of his whines about _why did you sleep there, Akaashiiiii_ and _you should have taken your bed, Akaashiiiii._ If ever that happens, luckily, tomorrow was Saturday anyway.

Akaashi fell asleep thinking about hearing Bokuto’s whiny, eighteen-year old voice again.

—

There was a relatively loud thud of something huge hitting on _another_ something that woke up Akaashi, belatedly realizing that the another something might have been his body because of the slight pain he felt on his side while the something huge was Bokuto who curled up against Akaashi’s leg, still sleeping despite falling from the bed.

He properly opened his eyes, letting it adjust to the darkness of the room, and stared at Bokuto.

He was still the same size as last night, still two-foot tall, still a toddler. Akaashi probably stayed and sat there like that, letting the reality sink in him but not giving in to the fear. He reached for his phone and sent a message to both Komi and Konoha, telling them that Bokuto still hasn’t returned to normal that morning and that they probably won’t make it to their practice that day as well.

It was barely six in the morning but since Akaashi has no idea what time toddlers are supposed to wake up, he decided to start breakfast early. He’s already awake anyway.

Whenever Akaashi woke up before six in the morning, it was usually because of an early practice somewhere else and they had to travel early to avoid traffic, or sometimes they just wanted to run before sunset because Bokuto was such team captain, saying to the team that _it was important to appreciate the beauty of the sunset as a team._ He hasn’t experienced so far waking up at six in the morning to mix a batter of pancakes for the toddler that was still sleeping in his room. He decided on pancakes because as a child, he remembered loving them and even if he might not be much of a sweet tooth now, he remembered especially loving those drowning in syrup.

He probably shouldn’t spend too much time and worry too much on perfecting the shapes of pancakes into little hearts and little stars (Akaashi wanted owl cutters but he questioned himself if they even exist) using his mother’s cookie cutters because he was still on the last batch of batter when he felt a pull on the apron he was wearing.

It was little Bokuto who approached him in silence and was probably still half-asleep considering his little hands intently rubbing on his closed eyes. Akaashi briefly wondered how he managed to _not_ fall while going downstairs in his sleepy state before he lowered the heat on the stove and kneeled to look at Bokuto.

“Bokuto-san, good morning,” he greeted his team captain.

He expected a sleepy _good morning_ back, probably two words combined into one because Bokuto’s mind may still be at his room, sleeping. However, he didn’t expect two tiny arms reaching to his neck and a tiny head with messy grey locks and still closed eyes nuzzling to his shoulder on top of his initial expectation of a sleepy, “Good morning, Akaashi.”

Akaashi couldn’t help the warmth enveloping him which he knew wasn’t just because of the hug as he reached a hand to ruffle the toddler’s already disheveled hair. They stayed like that for a moment until he realized Bokuto was still half asleep while leaning against him. He wrapped both his arms around the two-year old and carried him to the table.

He sat Bokuto on one of the chairs and when he stirred, glancing up at Akaashi with slightly more awake eyes now, Akaashi told him, “Breakfast will be ready in a bit. Wait first, okay?”

The toddler blinked at him and nodded quietly.

Akaashi felt the time he spent on perfecting the shape of each pancake was worth it when he placed Bokuto’s plate in front of him and the two-year old’s face lighted up with fireworks in his eyes as he opened his mouth in amazement. He looked from his place to Akaashi’s face, as if he wanted to share his happiness because of the pancakes with the setter.

“Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!” Bokuto chanted as Akaashi got the syrup from the counter and helped Bokuto pour a generous amount in his pancakes. By that, it meant _dump_ about half the bottle of syrup in his plate.

He was just getting his own breakfast when he heard, “Akaashiiiii~”

Akaashi returned at the table with a plate of pancakes of his own with nothing but butter. He looked at Bokuto who hasn’t started eating and asked, “Bokuto-san, why aren’t you eating?”

“Akaashi, eat with me!” Bokuto said, reaching both of his hands up that by now, Akaashi realized meant he either wants to be picked up or carried. He figured it must be the latter because the toddler still couldn’t reach his plate properly alone in his chair.

Finally, Bokuto was sitting on Akaashi’s lap again like he did the previous night when they had dinner, munching on his syrup-drowned hearts and stars pancakes while Akaashi pretty much just tried to keep him from falling off the chair. He decided he could eat his pancakes later after Bokuto was done.

Bokuto was already rolling around the living room with a volleyball an hour later when Akaashi got the chance to have his own breakfast. His phone alerted on a new message.

_From: Komi-san_

_Whatever he drank must probably be flushed out of his system completely, Akaashi. Let’s hope he turns back tomorrow._

_Call us if you need anything._

Akaashi glanced at Bokuto who was still rolling with the volleyball in their living room, seemingly enjoying himself after a heavy breakfast, and wondered what Komi and Konoha will tell the team for this morning’s practice. He didn’t necessarily lied about having a morning practice today when he sent a message to Bokuto’s mother. Konoha told him last night that they told everyone in the team that Bokuto’s family suddenly had visitors and they asked him to quickly go home. As for Akaashi, he’s simply already almost a part of Bokuto’s family anyway and Bokuto’s family also asked for him as well. The setter stared at his two seniors with judging eyes when they told him that.

He wondered what he should tell Bokuto’s mother though. If Komi said there might be greater chance for Bokuto to return to normal tomorrow, the toddler would have to stay with him for at least another night.

If he still wouldn’t turn back tomorrow though, Akaashi’s not sure anymore what he’d do.

—

That afternoon, Akaashi decided that Bokuto had pretty much memorized every corner of their house already while rolling around with a volleyball. He told the toddler that they would be going to the park and maybe, play volleyball there, instead of Bokuto just rolling around the entire house with the volleyball as his twin. Bokuto jumped up and down in excitement and kept on asking Akaashi if they weren’t leaving for the park yet.

He was praying there was some semblance of shoes or any footwear in the bag Komi and Konoha brought for Bokuto because he wasn’t wearing anything on his feet since yesterday. He figured he could buy something on the way to the part if there was nothing but Bokuto was already looking forward to play in the park. Akaashi almost closed his eyes as he blindly reached into the bag, like there was some prize there.

“Ah!” Bokuto turned to the setter when he heard him not _exactly_ speak, but squeal and that sound probably sounded like happiness to toddlers because he bounced to Akaashi’s direction and collided his entire two-foot body to Akaashi, looking with shining eyes what made Akaashi happy.

“Komi-san and Konoha-san brought these shoes for you, Bokuto-san.”

The shoes were almost the same pattern as his owl pajamas but it was mostly yellow. It didn’t make it less interesting for Bokuto whose eyes were sparkling when Akaashi helped him get dressed with the shoes. He still reached for Bokuto’s hand though as he proudly walked in his new shoes when they stepped outside of the house.

Bokuto was obviously excited because he was running around Akaashi when they were almost at the park. He might have completely run off if the setter wasn’t constantly calling out to him, asking him to slow down because he might trip, and to wait for him.

He didn’t listen which was why in a matter of seconds, a black cat which the toddler might have accidentally stepped on while running around, was hissing and running after Bokuto who was already crying in fear and running back to Akaashi the fastest his tiny legs could carry him.

Perhaps seeing someone near six-foot tall, the black cat understood natural selection and it immediately halted when Bokuto reached Akaashi, clutching to the setter’s pants in terror. He looked truly scared with the cat as he explained in between cries and hiccups to Akaashi that there was a _huge, black_ cat running after him.

Akaashi scooped a shaking Bokuto and carried him. “It’s okay now, Bokuto-san,” he said, trying to calm down the toddler. “I got you.”

Bokuto buried his face on Akaashi’s chest, not wanting to look around because the black cat must still be around.

“The cat can’t hurt you. I’m here,” the setter said again.

“Really?” the toddler asked after a hiccup.

“Really.”

Bokuto has already recovered and has completely forgotten the incident with the cat a few minutes later. As a matter of act, he was already running excitedly the moment they reached the almost empty park. They played volleyball, or _catch with a volleyball_ to be more precise, until the sun was almost setting. By the time Akaashi told him they need to go back home, Bokuto was still a bundle of energy, asking Akaashi to throw at him some more.

That stopped Akaashi as it reminded him of Bokuto asking him to toss for him after every practice.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto was standing before him, glancing up with almost worried eyes.

The setter reached his hand to ruffle the two-year old’s hair, turning his back at him quickly to avoid the toddler from catching his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he could maintain the same composure he’s been holding since the day before when it hit him that if Bokuto won’t return to normal, there wouldn’t be an ace pestering him for more tosses. There wouldn’t be a team captain who despite his strangeness and unpredictability was still unarguably one of the best people he knew. There wouldn’t be a friend who’d bother him during breaks at school despite him being his junior because he was worried Akaashi wasn’t eating or he was eating alone.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi quietly said when they were walking home. “I’ll toss to you no matter how many times you want. Just please, come back.”

Toddler Bokuto didn’t hear it and he only continued to walk behind Akaashi with his tiny legs.

—

The next morning, Bokuto still hasn’t returned to normal.

Akaashi probably stayed for about an hour just watching a sleeping two-year old Bokuto, trying to think of what they would do if Bokuto couldn’t return to normal anymore, what they would do if Bokuto couldn’t return as their team captain and ace anymore, what they would tell his parents if they couldn’t lie about early practices anymore, what they would do with school, with the Spring Interhigh Qualifers.

He buried his face between his knees, shutting his eyes like if they were closed, everything would disappear from his mind for a moment and Akaashi wouldn’t have to think of a world without the Bokuto he knew.

—

Monday came and Bokuto still hasn’t returned to normal.

He was hoping it wouldn’t become a habit for him to wake up at _such_ an early time. There was a limit to how a person should wake up early, Akaashi tried telling himself. He was hoping he would wake up that morning with a six-foot Bokuto sleeping soundly on his bed. He didn’t mind that he’d been sleeping on a futon at the floor of his own bedroom for the past three nights already. He just wanted their team captain to return to normal.

However, Akaashi woke up at around four in the morning to the sound of a child’s whine that might be something from a horror movie if he didn’t think Bokuto turning into a two-year old toddler was already a nightmare of its own.

He forced himself to look at his bed. Of course, this wasn’t some horror movie. Bokuto who was still in a toddler’s body was turning uneasily in his bed, clutching the covers as if he was having a bad dream.

Despite his disappointment, Akaashi quickly climbed to the bed and tried waking up the toddler.

Bokuto slowly opened his eyes and blinked at Akaashi’s face who was looking at him worriedly, probably not having an idea that he was just having a bad dream. Still, it wouldn’t be good if he’d quickly return to sleep because dreams tend to continue with that.

“Bokuto-san, did you have a bad dream?”

The toddler only looked at him sleepily before closing his eyes again, going back to sleep with no problem. Akaashi sighed, moving to go back to his futon even though he knew he’d probably just lie there, stare at the ceiling, and think of what they could do for Bokuto to return, or maybe he could start breakfast at four in the morning just to distract himself. He wasn’t even sure if he was going to school that day considering that Bokuto was still a toddler. How could he go to school with Bokuto like that? Who would take care of Bokuto if he does go to school? If something happens to Bokuto while he’s at school, how would he know?

He kind of felt a little jealous at Bokuto’s sleeping face, peaceful like there was nothing wrong in the toddler’s world, _which probably was how it should be_ , Akaashi quickly thought to himself. He reminded himself that the Bokuto with him was a two-year old toddler. Besides, he knew that if Bokuto was with him at this moment, despite his simple-mindedness and accident-prone personality, he would try his best to help him with whatever he was dealing with because that’s just the kind of person that his team captain was.

Akaashi hadn’t moved at all when he felt a tiny hand squeezing on his fingers. He blinked and looked at the sleeping Bokuto. He was sure he went back to sleep. “Bokuto-san?”

“Akaashi~ Don’t leave me~”

It seemed like all of his fears came back to him all together, everything at once, that Akaashi just bit his lip and held on the tiny hand that was holding him, hiding his face with the darkness of the room, even if he could hear himself catching his breath.

_Like I could ever, Bokuto-san,_ Akaashi mused.

—

In the end, Komi and Konoha managed to convince Akaashi that it would be better for him to go to school that day with Bokuto. First, they didn’t know how long they could keep the _family affair_ lie with the rest of the team. They were pretty sure Washio didn’t buy it the first time they said it and it seemed like Sarukui was beginning to catch up that something didn’t feel right now. They couldn’t blame them. It was one thing for Bokuto to feel depressed and emotional _during_ practices but that has never been enough to keep him off the court for three practices straight. Second, they already felt bad enough that Akaashi was the one who looked after their shrunken team captain. The second-year setter missing his classes because of them was another story.

They decided to take turns watching Bokuto at the club room every period since no one almost comes at the club rooms during classes anyway. Akaashi had looked at them with that same expression that sort of tells a person _are you kidding me_ because Komi and Konoha might be used to skipping classes with their team captain but Akaashi has never skipped class.

Akaashi’s expression quickly changed though when Bokuto walked to him and reached for his hand, “Akaashiiiii~ Play volleyball with me~” He figured it would probably drive him mad not knowing what’s going on with Bokuto in that state anyway. Missing classes would be more like collateral damage.

The setter’s duty came first because Bokuto wouldn’t stop whining when they told him he’d have to stay with Konoha for an hour. They figured he could coax the toddler into staying with the third-years for a couple of hours until lunch break and by then, Akaashi would play with him again.

First period ended quickly and before they knew it, Konoha was catching his breath by the club room door, signalling Akaashi to hurry and get to his second period class.

“Bokuto-san, stay here with Konoha-san, okay? I’ll be back by lunch.”

“Okay!” Tiny Bokuto agreed quickly it surprised Konoha. Well, it’s like what Komi said. Akaashi has always been good at handling Bokuto.

Akaashi knew he should try focusing more on his classes because that’s the reason why they decided to take turns watching their team captain who turned into a toddler, right? So that they could live as normally as possible in this _not_ so normal predicament. But he found himself constantly fidgeting, completely unsettled in his seat, worrying about Bokuto and the other third-years.

As quickly as first period ended, second and third period dragged that the setter almost wanted to skip them altogether.

He survived though — if that meant him pulling his phone as soon as the bell rang for lunch break to answer Komi’s call while he ran as fast as he can towards the club room.

“He’s crying.” It was Konoha who spoke even though he was sure the call was from Komi’s number.

“Toddler’s cry, Konoha-san. That’s what they do.”

“Yeah, but what do you do to stop it?”

Akaashi tried to get past the surge of students coming from all directions as he pressed his phone closer to his ears. “Have you fed him?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Has he had a nap?”

“Yeah, I think…”

“How about a diaper change?”

There was utter silence from the other end of the line.

“Konoha-san?”

“B-Bokuto was fine when I left him with Komi, I swear, Akaashi!” Konoha was obviously panicking now, his voice shaking and breaking as he spoke. “I left him with Komi and they were fine… I think!”

Akaashi took a deep breath and braced himself for impact despite just being able to breathe after going against the current of starving students on their way to the cafeteria. He stood still at the bottom of the stairs and in a steady voice, he asked. “Konoha-san, what happened to Bokuto-san?”

_He disappeared,_ that’s what Konoha told the setter in an almost crying voice. There were so many questions in Akaashi’s mind. What do you mean he disappeared? Weren’t you watching him? Wasn’t Komi-san watching him? How could he disappear? However, those weren’t important because right now, the most important thing was finding the two-year old toddler.

Bokuto was a two-year old toddler. How would a two-year old toddler navigate around a school as big as Furukodani Academy? What if he climbed the stairs and fell down? What if he bumped across suspicious people and they made fun of him? What if there was a huge cat that would run after him? He was a freaking two-year old! How would he be able to protect himself?

Konoha told him that he and Komi were already looking for their team captain near the club rooms and the gym. Akaashi told them he’d look for Bokuto in the school buildings. He might have walked there by himself when no one was looking.

The setter was running around, only the thought of finding Bokuto in his mind because if something were to happen to Bokuto in that state, how would they be even have hope that he’d come back?

Most of the students were having their lunch at the cafeteria or in their homerooms when Akaashi began looking for Bokuto in the school buildings. Even when the first bell signalling lunch break was over rang, Akaashi was still walking around, looking for a two-year old toddler with grey hair and yellow owl shoes, not bothering to even feel a bit worried that he’d miss first period that afternoon as well.

Fukurodani Academy was one of the biggest high schools in Tokyo. Akaashi used to like the fact that it was big enough for him _not_ to be exactly noticeable by himself when not in court. Almost no one takes notice of him whenever he walks around unless he was with the third-years, which began happening more often that he would admit because Bokuto kept appearing every now and then so that they could have lunch together or he could Akaashi to have lunch with him and the rest of the third-year members of the team. He used to like the long hallways of the buildings, the numerous rooms, and the huge student population that was most of the time his entire world since last year.

However, now that all students have returned to their classrooms for their afternoon first period, Akaashi was a bit disgruntled because of the immensity of their school that he couldn’t find a two-foot tall toddler. He wondered if Komi or Konoha had found him already but he knew they would have called him if they did.

Akaashi looked everywhere in the school buildings for Bokuto but he was nowhere to be found. He initially didn’t want to think that he wandered in the school grounds because there were a _lot_ more that could happen very wrongly in the school grounds than in the school buildings. The worst he could think of a wandering Bokuto in the school buildings was a teacher finding him, bringing him to the faculty, and announcing to the entire school that there was a missing child and _whoever_ brought the child at school must report to the faculty immediately. Meanwhile, on the school grounds, there was even an on-going renovation of the alumni building, with cement mixer, trucks of cement and sand, and construction scaffoldings.

The setter stopped, remembering his earlier conversation with Bokuto when he was looking after him during first period.

_“But Akaashiiiii~ where are you going?” Bokuto whined, not understanding why Akaashi have to leave him for a few hours with Komi and Konoha._

_“I have to go to class, Bokuto-san.”_

_“Class?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Where.”_

_“That big building over there.”_

Akaashi swore he pointed at the junior’s building but the alumni building which was being partly demolished at the moment was adjacent to that and Bokuto might have thought he was there. His feet turned around towards the alumni building, mentally scolding himself for not making sure Bokuto understood where exactly he would be if he wanted to find him and not realizing it sooner.

The construction workers looked at him funnily from where they were resting after having their lunch when they saw Akaashi wandering around aimlessly because he was probably the first student who came near the almost flattened building. Akaashi kept bowing his head at them because he couldn’t even tell them he was there for a valid reason and that it might surprise them even more if they learned a two-year old toddler was hanging around them while they destroy brick after brick.

He knew Bokuto couldn’t be inside unless there were some explicit intervention from adults which Akaashi absolutely doubt. Who would bring a two-year old in a construction site anyway? He went around the building and finally, it was like Akaashi could clearly see his visible sigh of relief when he saw a two-foot tall toddler in matching red and green shirt and shorts with printed dinosaurs wearing his favorite yellow owl shoes he knew didn’t match with his clothes but loved everything he was wearing anyway tip-toeing around the building with what seemed like a frown and an extremely confused expression.

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi immediately called out to him.

Bokuto heard Akaashi’s voice and when he turned around to the second-year’s direction, his frown and confusion immediately vanished into a bright smile and giggles as he began charging towards the setter.

It all happened too quickly.

Akaashi wanted to feel the relief of finding nothing bad happened to toddler Bokuto for a longer time. He also wanted to send a message to Komi and Konoha first who were probably so worried about Bokuto and who he knew were blaming themselves again for Bokuto’s disappearance and assure them that Bokuto probably wandered because Akaashi didn’t come back as soon as lunch began and that Bokuto was safe, nevertheless, which was the most important thing at the moment.

He couldn’t truly blame anyone about what happened because first, he knew why students weren’t coming near that building. It was dangerous. It’s just that, losing Bokuto was more dangerous for Akaashi than the risk of falling _things_ when he went to check the alumni building which was what exactly happened because suddenly, there were falling hollow blocks from who knows where in Bokuto’s direction. He wasn’t sure if the toddler toppled on something that initiated the rain of concrete or if the construction workers didn’t have a clue there were people around the building and they decided to dump the blocks where the two-year old was. Akaashi didn’t know and he didn’t have the leisure of time to figure out because there was only one thing he knew he needed to do at that moment.

As a volleyball player, Akaashi ran a lot. It was one of the things they do. They ran a lot, building their stamina to last games that can go on for a couple of hours or even more. They ran across the court, around the city, and sometimes, they even ran to catch the sunrise as a team together because their team captain said they needed so. He knew none of them would admit it but there was something about seeing the sunrise together as a team, knowing that the people they were with were the people who have the same dream as them, people who have their backs in and out of the court. It was calming and reassuring.

Akaashi didn’t know that he’d have to ran as fast as he could to throw a two-year old toddler to safety as blocks of concrete hit his own body. He thought those only happen in movies when he would question the protagonist’s logic of saving someone else instead of himself or herself? But he realized that actually happens, when saving someone else was more important than saving yourself and time and gravity weren’t in your side to choose both. That was probaby more dramatic than Akaashi’s real thoughts. Truthfully, he was only thinking about how his seventeen-year old body could take the hit of the blocks better than that of a two-year old at that time.

He still wanted to see his eighteen-year old captain back.

Bokuto blinked, his two-year old mind processing what just happened because he was sure he just saw Akaashi after looking for him for _so long_ and he was running towards him but then, it seemed Akaashi reached him first and threw him away? Then, he couldn’t see Akaashi again. The toddler stood up with those tiny legs, wanting to look for Akaashi again, and turned around.

Akaashi was there but he was lying on the ground. Why was he lying there? The toddler thought it was weird because the ground was dirty and Akaashi was always cleaning him up. Bokuto slowly walked towards Akaashi in little but quick steps. When he reached the him, Bokuto called to him in a small but obviously terrified voice, “Akashiiiii…”

Akaashi didn’t answer.

—

There was something about migraine that makes it seem a lot worse than say, stomachache. First of all, most of the time, you know the reason for when you have a stomachache. It might be because of eating too much, eating less than necessary, or eating something spoiled. But when you have a migraine, you feel nauseous, you feel like throwing up even though you aren’t sure if there is even something to throw up in the beginning, you have difficulty speaking because everything seems loud to you, even your own whisper or breathing, and you either feel too numb to feel anything besides the heaviness of your head or too sensitive to react negatively to the slightest light or sound.

That’s _exactly_ what Akaashi was feeling when he slowly opened his eyes and the brightness of the light from outside of wherever he was seeped through the window and he could swore was blinding him. Ignoring the fact that the sunlight was too much for him at the moment, there was something heavy in his head that he couldn’t quite pinpoint what because he was sure he was only lying down in something soft, must be a bed, he thought.

He brought his right hand to his head, closing his eyes for a moment because the light was still too much, and felt some bandage around his head. Slowly, the events of that morning and the past couple of days came to him and perhaps there was something strange about a human’s mind in a way that no matter how much pain you are in, if you think of something _more_ important, the pain will sort of disappear, or subside for the moment, and your mind will allow you to forget about the pain you are currently in in favor of _that_ something more important.

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi opened his eyes again, the sunlight not bothering him even a bit now.

He looked around and he realized he was in the school’s infirmary, lying on one of the beds, with no one else. He was about to stand up already because the last thing he could remember was throwing Bokuto out of the falling hollow blocks. He thought he must have fainted for the reason he would find out later but first, he wanted to look for Bokuto and make sure he was safe.

The door suddenly opened and it was Konoha and Sarukui.

Konoha immediately ran to his side and stopped him from moving. “Akaashi, stay put. Don’t move yet,” he told their setter, pushing him back to the bed. Sarukui followed behind him with the same worried expression Konoha was wearing.

“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” Sarukui asked him.

Akaashi looked from Konoha and Sarukui, wondering if the former told the truth to the latter and deciding that it didn’t matter. He thought, after that day’s events, if Bokuto wouldn’t return to normal until that afternoon, they would need to tell the truth to the rest of the team. Aside from the fact that they deserve to know as well, Akaashi thought that if he couldn’t protect toddler Bokuto alone, it would be better for the rest to know so they could protect him, too.

“My head just feels a little heavy, Sarukui-san. Otherwise I’m fine,” he answered.

“Are you sure? Do you want us to call for the doctor?” Konoha asked worriedly. Upon longer look, he looked like he’d been crying. Akaashi hoped he wasn’t blaming himself for his accident. It truly wasn’t anyone’s fault.

“No, there’s no need, I’m really fine,” Akaashi quickly said. Then, he looked at him and met the senior’s eyes. There was something more important he needs to know about. “Konoha-san, is Bokuto-san okay?”

As if on cue, the door opens again.

“AKASHIIIII!!!!!”

Akaashi quickly sat up, mouth open and wide-eyes, he stared at his six-foot tall, eighteen-year old team captain by the door with Komi and Washio. He was wearing probably something not his, probably Washio’s because it looked a little big on him, and was staring back at him with those huge, owl-like eyes. His hair looked a little disheveled, the light and dark grey locks mixing in an unconventional pattern than he could remember. But it was him, Akaashi was certain it was him.

He didn’t know how but in a matter of seconds, he was out of the bed, running towards this person he thought he would never see again. Akaashi wasn’t a tactile person. He would glare at Bokuto every time he would casually throw his arm on Akaashi’s shoulder on the way home or when Bokuto would get him to eat lunch with the others. But that time, he couldn’t help himself when he threw his arms on Bokuto and buried his face on his team captain’s shoulder.

He wanted say a lot of things to Bokuto. He wanted to ask him if he was alright, if he remembered anything that happened the past couple of days, if he remembered being a toddler. He wanted to ask if he got scared when Akaashi threw him earlier, if that dented something on his toddler memory and caused some trauma in him. He wanted to ask how he returned to normal. But most of all, Akaashi wanted to say _I miss you_.

There was a part of him that told him he was embarrassing himself in front of the third-years but he couldn’t bring himself to remove his arms on Bokuto. There was also a part of him that told him he might have been tearing up a little but he also couldn’t stop himself either.

Bokuto, who looked a little surprised but was quick to recover, moved his arms to hold Akaashi as well. “Hey, hey, hey,” he said his usual greeting but it was a lot softer, the kind of tone he probably only used with Akaashi now. He brought his hand to pat the setter’s head and leaned his head to dark, soft curls while he’s on it, too, melting into an unexpected but he wouldn’t complain about hug.

—

Needless to say, it took a lot more explaining than Akaashi would like to remember why he was skipping classes on top of skipping practices, why Bokuto suddenly appeared naked to Washio’s horror when the middle blocker was running late to his class which he completely missed altogether in favor of helping Bokuto out of his shameful situation and bringing Akaashi to the infirmary, why Akaashi and Bokuto were even hanging around the alumni building that was currently being renovated, why Konoha looked like he just murdered someone while Komi looked as if he _was_ going to murder someone when they saw Bokuto with Washio and Sarukui who was the one who got Washio’s clothes for Bokuto to borrow, and why Akaashi was crying when he saw Bokuto because _aren’t you guys together since Friday because of Bokuto’s family?_

But Akaashi couldn’t bring himself to complain. He wouldn’t.

He looked at Bokuto who has just changed to his own clothes from the club room. He couldn’t understand why but perhaps it also has something to do with being the students who was constantly bringing their school to nationals but he and Bokuto were excused for the rest of the afternoon classes because of the hollow blocks accident.

Sarukui told him his head was slightly injured which was only truly skin bruises because the doctor said the reason why he collapsed was more on stress and fatigue. He wouldn’t say he didn’t like being excused for the afternoon classes though. He could really use some sleep.

He still didn’t know how Bokuto returned to normal but when he asked Komi about it earlier, the senior told him Washio found him crying when he met him, screaming about Akaashi bleeding and unconscious, and that he might have forced the substance out of his body through excessive crying and too much tears. He imagined toddler Bokuto crying by himself beside his unconscious body and he felt a sting in his chest, feeling bad about it. That was the most probable reason how Bokuto returned according to Komi but Akaashi didn’t let himself think too much about it anymore because the most important thing was their team captain was back.

Akaashi was still pretty much staring at Bokuto and when the ace looked at him and met his eyes, he didn’t look away. “Akaashi, let’s go home.”

That sounded a little familiar as the setter nodded, taking his bag to his shoulder and walking towards Bokuto. However, when he reached Bokuto, not only did the other took the bag from his shoulder and moved it to his own, he moved his hand to Akaashi’s waist as if to help him.

“Bokuto-san, my head is the injured one. I can walk,” he tried saying.

“Don’t worry about it. I got you, Akaashi,” Bokuto only said, grinning at him and not moving a centimeter away from him.

They walked just like that home and despite how strange they probably looked with one of them helping the other walk but has bandages on his head and how uncomfortable the position was, Akaashi stayed still and let Bokuto hold him.

They were passing by the store near his house when Bokuto told him, “Hold on. Let’s buy you food. Your parents are still away, right?” He helped Akaashi stand by the counter while he got a basket and went around the store. He came back after about five minutes with the basket now full and quite overflowing and yet he was still grabbing some biscuits he knew Akaashi likes.

“Bokuto-san, that’s enough,” Akaashi tried telling him.

“It’s fine,” Bokuto told him with a grin and a thumbs-up.

When they were walking home again, Akaashi couldn’t help but ask. “Bokuto-san, don’t you remember anything that happened this weekend?”

Bokuto already told them earlier that the last thing he could remember was arriving at the gym earlier than the others with Komi and Konoha. He said it felt like he slept for a very long time but when he came back into his senses, he was not just in the gym but he was near the building that was being demolished with an unconscious Akaashi. Not to mention, naked, and three days later than his last memories.

“No,” the team captain said with a sigh. “But I have a feeling I caused you a lot of trouble, Akaashi, didn’t I?” He gave the setter a weak smile.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because!” Bokuto started, sounding equally exasperated and thrilled Akaashi didn’t know what emotion was winning. “You hugged me earlier. Tightly. You hate hugs.” Then, he muttered down to himself, looking like the exasperated was the one winning now, “That’s why I think I did something _very, very_ wrong and I don’t know what that is, Akaashi! I don’t know, I swear, I can’t remember! But you can’t be tired of me, okay? You cant’t —”

He was still rambling when Akaashi moved from his grasp on his waist and wrapped his arms around his idiot captain’s neck again, pretty much like earlier, but this time, there was nothing going on in the setter’s head except to hold this person beside him and not let go. Akaashi was pretty sure Bokuto could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke.

“Like I could ever, Bokuto-san.”

**Author's Note:**

> I recently began playing volleyball and someone told me I was just like Bokuto when playing. Not ability-wise but personality-wise and I realized that's probably why I like Akaashi so much. I need someone who could handle me like how Akaashi handles Bokuto, for real. I really love their interaction and relationship.
> 
> How's the story? This is the longest fic I've written in a while. Hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
